The Search for a Lost Swing

Coming Off a Down Year, New Met Andres Torres Is Listening to All Suggestions

By

Brian Costa

Updated March 10, 2012 12:01 a.m. ET

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—The repairs began on a field in San Pedro de Macoris, on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. The pitcher, on this day of winter batting practice, was Jose Cano. The batter was Andres Torres, the Mets' new center fielder. Off to the side stood Robinson Cano, the Yankees second baseman.

Together, the three of them began to rebuild a swing that failed Torres for much of 2011. The Canos offered pointers: stop lunging at the ball, stay back, keep your hands low. With the adjustments came signs of life.

ENLARGE

New Mets leadoff hitter Andres Torres hit .221 last season for San Francisco, which was down from .268 the previous year.
Associated Press

"At the end of the day, he got a triple," Robinson Cano said, "and I said, 'That's my boy right there.'"

The ability of Torres to implement the tips he got from Cano, along with many others, will go a long way toward determining whether he can be a viable leadoff hitter for the Mets this season. They acquired him in a trade from the San Francisco Giants to replace Jose Reyes at the top of the order, but the task requires improvement.

In 2011, Torres hit just .221, a 47-point drop from the previous year. His on-base percentage also fell to .312 from .343. It was one of many reasons why the Giants' offense scored the fewest runs in the National League.

His speed fits the mold of a leadoff hitter, but the question remains whether he can give himself enough chances to utilize it. "If he gets on base, we're going to score a lot of runs," Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens said. "It's like with Jose. If he gets on base, he's going to steal bases, go first to third and score on doubles and create a lot of excitement. But he's got to get on base to do that."

The first suggestion Torres took came from a former Met Carlos Beltran, who watched Torres struggle in San Francisco. "He said, 'You use a big bat. You're way too close to the plate," Torres said. Beltran reached into his locker and pulled out his bat, a 35-inch MaxBat T56, to explain. By standing too close to the plate, Torres said, he wasn't getting the barrel of the bat out over the heart of the plate. That made it more difficult for him to hit the ball on the sweet spot of the bat.

Cano told him the same thing. The two met in November when traveling in Taiwan to play in a series between major-leaguers and Taiwanese teams. Cano invited Torres, who splits time between Arizona and Puerto Rico, to work out with him near his home. Torres accepted the offer.

It was not so much a swing overhaul as a series of refinements. To some degree, it was just a reminder of some fundamental concepts that Torres had gotten away from.

"It's just about making little adjustments," Torres said. "When you have bad habits, it's hard to break down things."

When Torres arrived for spring training, the Mets had their own ideas. Hudgens saw two things that concerned him. The first was an inability to stay on top of the ball, which made him prone to weak pop-ups. The second issue was lapses in plate discipline. Torres swung at a career-high 31% of pitches outside the strike zone last season.

The Mets want him to be more selective and work the count better, and they told him as much during an early spring meeting with Hudgens, manager Terry Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson. They'll find out soon enough whether he can heed all the advice.

"I know people look at me like, 'I saw you last year, and you didn't have it,'" Torres said. "But I feel really good right now."

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